Behind The Army Smile
by Courtnerrr
Summary: [OnHold][[Temporary Title]] Michael Beardsley is now 14 years old. This is the things he deals with and the friends he has.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Yours, Mine, and Ours, Tyler Patrick Jones, or any of the other characters of Yours, Mine, and Ours. I do, however, own Michael's friends. Because they rock like that.

**Author's Note:** This story takes place 2 years after the movie. Michael (now known as Mike/Mikey) is 14 years old and a freshman at New London High. FYI He may come of as a jerk. But that's based on those around him.

**Behind The Army Smile**

Chapter 1

My name is Michael James Beardsley, but my friends call me Mike or Mikey. I am 14 years old and was born on July 17th, 1991. Within my 14 years I have moved 16 times, the most recent move being to New London from Sacramento.

Wait a minute... Oh crap! Wrong paper.

Let's start over...

**Behind The Army Smile**

Chapter 1

_Take Two_

"Mike! What's up? You like... died all break!" It was my best friend in New London, Tony Cox. "I thought I'd never reach you!"

It was Spring Break 2006, and I was sitting home, grounded, secretly answering my cell phone while Mick wasn't in the room. "I'm grounded, that's why." I muttered, glaring at the door, which was being held shut by my dresser.

"Nice move genius." Tony muttered, I could just see his sarcastic expression even though he was about a mile away. "What'd you do this time?"

"Alright, seeing as the Admiral's a military man, you'd think he wouldn't mind a little self-defense," I began, "But no. Lao gets in my face, starts telling me I should wear more god damn Gucci, I shove him out of the way, and suddenly I'm grounded 'until further notice'!"

"Dude... That's harsh." My best friend exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes, "No shit Sherlock." I muttered, "How long did it take to figure that one out?"

"About 3 seconds."

"Rhetorical question Tone." I retorted, "And in case you didn't know, that means you **don't** answer it."

I heard a knock on my door, "I should probably get that." I told Tony.

"Why?" He asked, "It's probably just an idiotic sibling wanting to make your life a living hell."

"Or it could be Ely, Otter, or Harry."

"Good point. Ask who it is?"

"I'll try it, hold on." I then put my hand over the mouthpiece of my phone, "Who is it?"

"It's Mick! I would kind of like to get into my own room!"

"Too bad, come back later." I exclaimed, removing my hand, "Anyway, where were we?"

"Figuring out how to break you out?" Tony suggested, sounding like he had been thinking about it the entire time (although it wasn't that long) I was getting rid of Mick.

I laughed, "Sounds like a plan." My phone began to beep, "Hang on Tone, I got another call." I pushed the flash button, "Hello?"

"Oh my gosh! It's Mikey!" It was one of my other best friends, Katy McDonald.

"Hey Katy, let me 3-way you in with Tony." I messed around with the phone, putting Katy on with Tony and me, "Hey Tony? Katy's on line 3."

"Hey Kit Kat."

"Hey Two Tone."

"Now that we're done with the formal greetings," I said, laughing at the two, "Actually... I don't know where I was going with that."

"Oh, Mikey, question." Katy said, "Where've you been all week!"

"Grounded." Tony and I replied at the same time.

I heard another knock on my door, "Michael James Beardsley! Open this door now!"

"Oh shit." I muttered, "It's the Admiral, I gotta go." I quickly hung up, moved the dresser, unlocked the door and slid back onto my bed, "It's open." Dread lingered in my voice.

The Admiral, a.k.a. General Dad, whipped open the door, "Don't open it too fast." I retorted, "You might pull it off the hinges." Sarcasm was oozing from every syllable I spoke.

The Admiral glared at me, not a deathly glare, but one of those "I'm your father you'll do as I say" glare. "You realize you're grounded for a reason, and although I did confine you to your room, you aren't allowed to lock Mick out."

I looked at him, "I don't see why I'm stuck here with El Freak. And I don't mind my room, just the people in it."

"Because you two are the oldest boys now that Dylan and William are at college, so it was time you shared a room."

"Last time I checked he was perfectly content sharing a room with Lao, Jimi, and Harry, I'd trade El Freak for Harry any day!" I exclaimed, and it was true, I had shared a room with Harry for about 10 years of my life, and the two of us were extremely close. Without waiting for a response, I reached for the blue notebook sitting on my desk, it was my journal for English class. The assignment was to write a detailed essay about my family. I had begged to only do the parts of my family that I enjoyed, seeing as I didn't want to write 22 paragraphs. I opened to the assignment, where I had written three paragraphs. The introduction, the Admiral's paragraph, and I was halfway done with William's paragraph.

"Michael," The Admiral spoke sternly, "You are sharing with Mick because you are the same age. And you are not to call him El Freak anymore."

"Oh great, you're trying to control my life even more?" I asked, pulling myself off of my bed. This had been the first time I had pulled myself off the bed all week for something other than eating or going to the bathroom. I stormed out of my room, and down the stairs, my last exit being out of the house, storming towards any of my friend's houses. I'd rather be at any of their houses than home. The closest house was Nick's, as I arrived I walked up the driveway and knocked.

Nick answered, "Mike!" He dragged me inside, "Tony told me what happened, that's so messed up."

"You're telling me. Hey where's Dalton? I thought he was staying here while his parents were in Cancun." I asked, looking up at the tallest in my group of friends. Nick towered over the rest of us at 6'5". I was only 5'6".

"He's upstairs, come on. Bridge and Rye are up there too." He said, referring to his girlfriend Bridget Lincoln and Dalton's girlfriend Riley Parker.

"Nice, all the company I've had this week is Mick, Harry, Ely, and Otter, only welcoming three out of four."

"That sucks." Nick said as we walked into his room.

Riley looked at me, "Mike! You survived!"

"The Admiral let you off early?" Bridget asked, looking up at me from the cards in front of her.

I shook my head, "Let's put it this way, if he knew I was here, I'd be killed, brought back to life, and killed again."

"Damn that's harsh." Dalton muttered, "I fold." He exclaimed, throwing down his cards.

I probably should have mentioned that my friends were playing Texas Hold 'Em. Riley had taught us all because her dad, Adam, is a professional poker player.

"Me too. Rye, let's hope you're not bluffing." Bridget said throwing down her cards.

Riley flipped her cards, she had a two and a three, "I win."

She had just won the jackpot, I looked at the four, "Deal me in."

**I realize there's a lot of new characters in this chapter. But I know who his large group of friends are. So I'll list them here. (Yes there are more than introduced)**

**-Tony Cox **

**-Katy McDonald**

**-Nick Robin**

**-Dalton Wood**

**-Bridget Lincoln**

**-Riley Parker**

**-Kevin Lafler**

**-Caitlin Prince**

**-Alex Cook**

**Kevin, Caitlin, and Alex will be further introduced in further chapters. And along with that, further relationships within Mike's large group of friends will be explained in detail.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: ** I own Mike's friends. Oh yes.

**Behind The Army Smile**

Chapter 2

I know this is going to sound awkward, but I was so happy to be back in school with my friends. Spring Break was finally over and I was off of grounding. Temporarily, meaning until I did something else to piss off the Admiral or if someone else did something to piss off the Admiral and they blamed it on me.

My overweight black bookbag was slung onto one shoulder; I walked through the front door of New London High School, looking for Alex.

As if on cue, she came over to me, "Hey Beardsley." She said, smiling as she opened her locker, which was right next to mine.

"Cook." I said in reply, whipping my locker open and transferring my stuff that I didn't need for that day into my locker, and leaving the rest in my bag.

She looked at me while I did my usual routine, "I don't see why you just don't go to your locker between classes." She said, as she shut her locker, holding a blue binder, a huge textbook, and a pen. "It's much easier than lugging all your stuff around."

"As you very well know," I said, shutting my locker, "My first two classes are right next to each other. No point in going across the school to grab stuff, and then I have to go in the opposite direction for lunch, and then remaining upstairs. You should know, you have the exact same schedule." I laughed as we walked down the hallway to Kevin's locker, where we all met everyday.

Kevin was slamming his head into his locker as Caitlin had her hand in his pocket. "What's his problem?" Alex asked, watching Kevin.

"I can't remember my god damn combination!" He exclaimed, kicking his locker.

I nodded, "Why don't you go ask in the unit office?" I suggested, before Tony, Dalton, Riley, and Katy walked over. They all lived in the same neighborhood, literally. Tony lived next door to Riley, who lived next door to Katy, who lived 5 doors down from Dalton.

Tony looked at Kevin, "Combination forgetting problems?" He asked, in his confusing way.

Kevin nodded, rubbing his forehead.

Tony stepped forward, spinning Kevin's dial randomly. Then pushing up the handle and kicking the locker. It flew open.

"Will we ever know how you do that?" Katy asked as Nick and Bridget walked up, making out with each other as they walked.

Tony smirked, wrapping his arm around her, "Nope." He looked at her, "It's a family secret." He said, making his voice sound like he was in the mafia.

We all laughed, it was about 7:10 and we had to head to class at 7:15. Alex looked at Kevin, "You realize your head is bright red right?"

Kevin punched his locker after closing it, "Damnit!"

"Breathe Kev." Caitlin said, looking at him, "Control your temper. Control is a good thing."

I raised an eyebrow, "Stop trying to sound like a therapist Cait." I told her, "You're a freshman in high school, not sitting in an office with a couch for people to lie on and tell you about their most recent erotic dream."

Caitlin looked at me, "How do you know about what therapists do?"

"Seventeen siblings. Six of them adopted, they are forced to go talk to therapists, to make sure that they are 'in sync with themselves.' And I am forced to go with them, and Jimi talks about some weird stuff for a 13 year old." I said, cringing.

They all laughed, and I laughed too, it was funny, but also disturbing on so many levels. The warning bell rang. So Alex, Kevin, Bridget, Riley, and I walked towards our classroom. The five of us were going to AP World History.

We sat in our seats, Alex and I in the front row, Bridget and Riley right behind us, and Kevin sat with a boy named Ryan in the back of the room. This is where we had sat since the beginning of the year.

Our teacher was nice, she always tried to make the class fun, but she rarely ever succeeded. History just wasn't fun.

After that I went to English with Alex, Nick, Dalton, Tony, and Katy. I sat on the edge of a set of three tables, next to Tony, who was next to Katy, who was next to Alex, who was next to Nick, who was next to Dalton. The six of us laughed the entire class, while reading The Miracle Worker which, in my opinion, is a pretty boring book.

I had managed to get about three hours of sleep within the first two periods. So I was extremely hyper by lunch, B days were the only days that all 10 of us were in the same lunch. And today happened to be a B day. We all walked into lunch together and grabbed a table. Tony poked me, "Good morning Sleeping Beauty." He said, snickering.

I kicked him in the shin, "Oh shut up. I was bored!"

"So you sleep?" Nick asked, smirking.

I smiled, "Yes. I do."

"But then again, while sharing a room with Mick, you probably don't get much sleep. He seems like the 'wake up in the middle of the night and scream' type." Kevin said, laughing as well.

As if on cue, Joni and her friends sat at the table next to us. Our table was two shoved together to fit all us. She only needed one table to fit all her friends. "Would you give it a rest Michael?" She retorted, as if I had said something about her brother, "It's not like you're perfect either!"

A strand of my dark brown hair fell into my face, "Did anyone say I was?" I asked, looking around at my friends, who were all shaking their heads. "That's what I thought!"

Joni rolled her eyes as she walked towards the pizza/salad line, her friends following her like lost puppies.

"God she bothers me." I said, standing up and skipping towards the last main lunch line, Tony, Nick, Bridget, and Alex following me in the same fashion. The five of us were the biggest idiots of the group. But we had fun, and that's what mattered.

Katy and Caitlin followed Joni, and Katy glared at Joni's head the entire time in line.

Riley and Dalton went to the pasta line, and Kevin went to the other line for the main lunch, I guess he just didn't want to be embarrassed by us. But that was okay.

I heard someone giggling behind me, I turned around and saw a girl with short red hair, and pale green eyes, "Can I help you?" I asked, Tony turning around and looking at the girl as well.

"You're a guy?" The girl asked, as if she had been let down.

Tony burst out laughing, "My hair's not that long." I said, annoyance hanging in my voice.

"Sorry, I just thought..."

"You thought wrong." I got to where I got my lunch and I got a chicken sandwich, the rest of us got the same thing.

"So, do we still call you Mike, or do we call you Michelle now?" Nick asked, smirking.

I ignored him until we got back to our table, he stood up to go buy a Pepsi and I kicked him in the ass. "Holy shit!" He screamed, and I smirked, all of us, including Nick and Bridget laughed.

"God damn it Michelle!" I raised my foot again, "I mean, Mike."

I smirked as I ate a fry, I fluttered my eyelashes playfully, "Did I do that?"

Nick glared at me as he went over to the machine, he bought his Pepsi and came back, avoiding me completely.

"Oh come on Nicky." I said, sticking my tongue out at him, "You deserved it."

We all laughed as we finished our lunch, and then we went our separate ways. Kevin and Katy went to band. Tony, Alex, and I went to Living Environment. Nick, Bridget, Riley and Dalton went off to their art class. Caitlin went downstairs to her English class.

I once again fell asleep in class, but only for a few moments before Mick chucked an eraser at my head. I saw Tony and Alex both casting him death glares. I would've sent one his way, but he would have let it slip to the admiral, and I'd be grounded. Indefinitely. And that's never fun.

While dozing in and out, I managed to finish my work, and I wouldn't have if Tony and Alex hadn't been taking turns nailing me in the shin. By the time I left Living Environment, my shins were completely bruised, "Damn." I said, rolling up my pant leg, "You guys are vicious."

Alex smirked as the bell rang, "No sleeping in art." She exclaimed, "You're the only person I have to talk to in there."

I sighed as we entered our art room. We were sketching a bunch of kitchen things, and it didn't particularly interest us, so we talked the entire class. The moment the bell rang I bolted out of their and ran up to Tony, "Still need company tonight?"

Tony smirked, "One of the terrible trio are picking me up, I'm sure whoever it is won't mind some extra weight." When he mentioned the Terrible Trio, he was referring to his older brothers, triplets, Elliot, Owen, and Zack.

The two of us walked out the front door and hopped into the red 1972 mustang sitting by the buses. The driver was the coolest of the trio, Elliot.

**What's the Admiral going to think of this?**

**Lisa Ann:** Thanks for the bunny. And yeah, I decided to make the Admiral an asshole. But eventually Mike's gonna deserve it. Not saying anymore than that.

**jumanji:** Glad you like my story!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: ** I own Mike's friends. Oh yes.

**Behind The Army Smile**

Chapter 3

Elliot stopped in front of Tony's house and dropped us off, "Alright Tony, if Mom and Dad aren't back by six, call the shop. One of us will stop by---,"

"On a delivery and pick me up." Tony finished for his brother, "I know Elliot. And if I call before then, it's because we're starving and want free pizza."

"The thoughts of that happening are slim to none."

"It was worth a shot." Tony said, smirking as we got out of the car. Elliot drove away as Tony opened the front door I got tackled by his dog, Shelby. The scary part about the dog, is that they got her when Tony was 3 years old. And they almost named her Toby.

I had heard the story before. It was weirder every time.

As soon as we got in Tony looked at me, "The usual?"

I smirked, "Homework and then a little fun?"

Tony smiled, showing his bright white teeth, "I knew there was a reason you were my best friend!" We grabbed our Living Environment stuff and worked on a few pages in our review books, while listening to the All American Rejects.

As soon as we finished we compared answers, we had gotten all of the same answers, so we'd just have Alex check them tomorrow before class.

Tony sighed, "That's all of it!" He said, throwing his bookbag onto the couch and heading for the basement door, a smirk crossed his face, "Ready?"

"I could use what's coming." I said, jumping up and following him to the basement door. We ran down the stairs and headed for the huge refrigerator/pantry. Tony reached around on the top of it looking for a key, once he found it he twisted the lock and opened the refrigerator.

It was a dream. I had my options. In the refrigerator side, there was beer, CDM, and Smirnoff. On the pantry side, we had Vodka, Jack Daniels, Gentleman Jack, and other options.

Tony grabbed a Smirnoff Twisted V and handed it to me, "Best to start off small... ish."

I took the drink and popped the cap, he did the same. We both put the bottles to our lips and began to drink. I brought mine down, and Tony followed, we shut and locked the refrigerator and walked up to Tony's room. Tony had grabbed the carton of Smirnoff up to his room, and was now hiding it in his closet.

"Damn, this stuff is amazing." I said, sitting in Tony's computer chair.

"And I got coffee going downstairs, so if we get a little too tipsy before six..." He said, his voice fading out before taking another sip.

I smirked, "We're not going to get that bad!" I exclaimed, "It's only 2:00..."

Tony shrugged, taking another sip of his drink as we blared Motion City Soundtrack on his CD player.

The song Everything is Alright faintly rang in our ears as we sat in Tony's room.

We were still sitting in Tony's room two hours later, at 4:00, we were sort of out of it, when we heard the phone ringing.

We remained where we were though, until we heard Tony's answering machine, "Hi, you've reached the Cox family. We can't get to the phone right now, but leave your name, number, and a brief message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible." Then we heard the beep as Tony suddenly charged downstairs, realizing he should probably answer the phone.

The Admiral's voice came on Tony's answering machine, "Hi Tony, it's Michael's dad. I was wondering if you've seen him, since he never- " The message ended as Tony picked up the phone.

"Ello?" I looked at him, "What the hell dude!" I exclaimed, but suddenly bit my lip as I remembered that my father was on the other line.

"Was that Michael?" Tony had put my dad on speakerphone as he drank another sip of his drink.

"Was what who?" Tony asked in return.

I shook my head, "We are so dead." I mumbled, so that only Tony could hear me.

"Tony, is Michael there?" The Admiral sounded somewhat concerned.

Tony tilted his head to the side, "Who're we talking about?"

As the two of them continued to talk, I raided Tony's cupboards for cups, I found two and filled them with coffee. I handed one to Tony, "Thanks M..." He caught himself, "Thanks Mom."

I bit my lip, and nodded, quickly taking a huge gulp of my coffee.

"Tony? Are you okay?" Dad asked, I think he knew, but I could never be to sure.

"I'm fine." Tony replied. "Never been better."

I felt dust go into my nose as Shelby ran by, "Damn..." I whispered, trying to stop myself from sneezing. I failed, and sneezed.

"Michael?" How do parents always recognize you?

Tony kept going with the whole act of me not being there, "No, I'm Tony. Michael's not here."

"Well, if you know where he is, tell him I'm on my way to your house." the Admiral then hung up.

Tony did the same, "Yeah, we need to get you out of here. To save you from any future groundings."

I sighed, "I'll just get busted," I replied, "It's not like I won't get in trouble either way."

"You are hopeless." Tony muttered, grabbing me and dragging me to his garage, "Look, we run. Fast. We get to your house, you find a way to get upstairs and in your room without anyone noticing."

My eyes locked with his, "I knew we were on track for a reason." I smirked, then we began running down Tony's street.

Cars drove by, staring at us as we ran.

**Sorry that it's so short. I just had so much planned for this chapter, and I kind of lost it. So yeah, next chapter should be good.**

**I love my reviewers, including, That was fiction this is real, jumanji, and letitri**


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